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Since the collapse of President Siad Barres regime in 1991, the nation of Somalia has been in a state of absolute turmoil. The country remains riddled with warfare and violent conflicts that have led to a humanitarian mission that is the Somali Refugee Crisis. However, this perception that the collapse is the major cause of displaced Somalis does not fully capture the issues that plague somalin and what they are going through. Before the collapse of the Somalian state, Siad Barres government began to manipulate members of ethnic groups and clan loyalty, causing clan identity to be a primary source of both political power and distributed resources. This includes the favoring of Barres own subclan, the Marehan Darod. Many groups within the borders were exploited and hunted for goods that could be used or consumed. These issues surrounding clan division resulted in warlords and clan militia begin challenging one another, dragging innocent Somali people into these political problems.
In the wake of the civil war, the Somali national movement began orchestrating attacks on Siad Barres government causing people to immigrate westward into Ethiopia. By this time, nearly 630,000 Somalis had registered in Ethiopia as refugees. Throughout most of the attacks on the Somali government around the beginning of the civil war, Somalis across the country began to leave their homeland to neighboring nations such as Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Yemen. In 1993, as the situation began to ease for Somali refugees, donor assistance began diminishing, leaving those in refugee camps in worsened living conditions, which resulted in an even harder time of survival for refugees. To this day, the United Nations constantly appeals to nations for humanitarian aid regarding the Somali refugee crisis, asking for over USD$1 billion dollars to support those in refugee settlements. Little to no reports can be found that these pleads of help are met with any assistance.
Political wars are events that inherently place people around the world at risk, especially those that reside within the geographic region of the conflict. The United Nations has commonly stated that the world is now facing a displacement crisis, with an estimated 30-60 million displaced refugees around the entire world, and the primary factor related to these displacements are civil wars and conflicts within these regions. Prior research done on the causes of forced migration and displacement states that conflict or violence is the number one progenitor. Forced displacement perpetrated by the government is not exclusive to the case of Somalia, but to ethnic groups and various populations throughout the world. Countries around the world host state-sponsored violence, producing refugees that ultimately must leave their countries and potentially end up in a country that is a host to similar violence against ethnic groups, leading to greater heartbreak and strife among the displaced people. There is still much to be done to ensure that greater light ins shone onto displaced refuges around the world, and that efforts are being made to advocate for those most in danger of losing their families, their freedom, and their chance for a better life.
Ieuan Edwards, Jan 2022.